CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Deputies arrested a Bradley County daycare worker after a fire broke out Thursday while dozens of children were inside, saying the man had been drinking on the job before the fire.
The Bradley County Sheriff's Office said the fire happened at Little Lambs on Waterlevel Highway in Cleveland on February 10 just before noon.
No one was hurt in the fire, which was reportedly extinguished within a matter of minutes. 27 children and four staff members were evacuated to a nearby building.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
Deputies said while responders were removing children from the building, they noticed open beer containers in a room. They said employee James Carpenter Jr. admitted to drinking several shots of liquor and at least two beers while working.
According to Carpenter's arrest warrants, a witness who tried to help during the fire was told by the owners of the building they would not evacuate the building "because it was the children's nap time."
"My child was in there, right next to the fire," said Harley Gray, whose daughter attended the daycare for four months before the fire. "I’m more irritated cause they didn’t want to do anything."
Carpenter is charged with 27 counts of child neglect and was released on a $135,000 bond.
“If he was drinking on the job and the kids were not properly evacuated because he was drinking on the job, then I’ve got negligence because of the improper evacuation," said C. Mark Warren, who is representing a group of families investigating the fire for possible civil penalties. "It might just be happenstance that he was drinking on the job and the fire occurred and would have occurred anyway.”
Years before the fire broke out at the facility, Little Lambs Daycare has been reported for violations more than 40 times, according to an investigation by Local 3 News in Chattanooga.
The reports are wide-ranging but include complaints like broken playground equipment, improper record-keeping, and unqualified caregivers.
In 2018 alone, the facility was reported for a staff member reportedly spanking a four-year-old and laughing about it, and for a hot coffee being left within reach, giving a child second-degree burns.